Sancastles and the Beast: Observations from Covid-19
The sun stayed behind the horizon until her appointed to time rise. Until then, my car headlights would have to illuminate my drive to work. They clicked on the same time the radio station did. Though I never listen to the news, I always have it dialed to NPR. This particular morning they were discussing their opinions on the virus affecting China. Due to an acquaintance, I knew a little bit about how serious it was. That was at the beginning of January.
Cue March 2020.
This pandemic showed no respect for the well-defined borders of the United States. And life as we know it is abruptly and dramatically altered. Change is never comfortable. Here in the U.S., we love, dare I say, worship our comfort. We liked the false security that our American version of normal gave us, and many of us have not liked giving it up. However, our normal has been exposed for what it is: lacking, unstable, and insufficient. Consider how quickly a storm called Covid-19 disrupted the little sandcastles we call the government, financial, educational, and health systems. Those are not the only things in our fragile kingdom. Hidden in plain sight is a triad, a savage hungry beast, one that, when it has had its pound of flesh, always, and I mean always, comes back for more.
Busyness and the Grind
Materialism/ Consumerism
Happiness and comfort
It may be light-hearted to say that you cannot wait until you can go back to TJ Maxx, but I wonder. Perhaps this shelter-in-place has shown us that the simple life is the abundant life. We don't need to be consumers, and therefore workaholics, grinding to provide for our greedy hearts. I wonder why these little kingdoms and ruthless self-made beasts are more central in our affections than family, community, and most importantly, God? Our comfort comes at a cost. One that I believe is not worth paying with our lives.
My Instagram page is a curation of this odd reality. Scrolling through, I see influencers promoting Nutella while a non-profit shares the dire needs of refugees "sheltered" inside a camp. Guess which one has more likes. This backwards perspective makes me question why we are so eager to return to normal. Especially when our version of normal is so fragile, costly, and dare I say, deadly.
I write this knowing my own bent towards comfort, but COVID-19 has reminded me that nothing can satisfy like Christ. He alone deserves all my affections, devotion and life.
Oh, that it may be so.
